LIVING WITH MCL

That's how many miles I put on my bike last month. Now while you may not consider that of any particular relevance, I sure view it as a milestone. I have not put on that many miles in one month, since I started keeping track of my mileage in '02, and I doubt I've ever put on that many miles in a single month since I started riding a bike competitively in '82. And to make that sound even more monumental, I climbed over 17,500 feet, and burned 50,000 calories (almost 15 pounds) in the process. I think I'd better go rest now! :)

Those were the exact words used by Edie's oncologist to described her latest Free Light Chain test results. Edie's Kappa Free Light Chains is now within the normal range. Her Lambda Free Light Chains were below normal, but we're not really sure if that is of any significance. I guess that will give me something to do for the next hour or so. Of course we can't forget the old adage "one test does not a trend make", as evidenced by the fact, Edie's creatinine went back up to 3.4, from the 2.1 reported last week . Still, all things considered, it is encouraging, and it appears progress is finally being made. In fact, I was so elated by the news, I wasn't even upset yesterday, when I lost my second Mens Club Match Play match yesterday, on the second hole of a sudden death play off, after being tied at the end of regulation play.

While it's not raining at this exact moment, it did rain quite a bit last night. Consequently the roads are pretty wet, and since there's still a 50% chance of rain the rest of the morning, I won't be riding my bike today. So in keeping with my threat to post under such circumstances , plus the fact Edie did receive some good news yesterday, I thought I would inform everyone of that news. Edie's creatinine dropped to 2.1. That's still not within the normal range (0.6 to 1.1), but it is a far cry from where it was previously, when it got as high as 6.1, and she was admitted to the hospital. Now we can't know for certain that the drop is not a result of the dialysis treatments she is undergoing, her oncologist does seem to think the drop is more significant than one would expect just from dialysis. [The Velcade may just be doing its job, and at the very least Edie may be able to get off dialysis soon.] So on top of the fact, the rain is bringing much needed re

It seems even Morris ( you remember Morris our cat ) has been so distraught lately, he decided to leave Sylvia a little treat, in her bathroom, last night. [He's such a good boy!] Sylvia has never experienced anything quite like that before, and I thought her reaction was a little unusual, if not comical. Instead of picking the rat up, and throwing it in the trash, like I would have done (fortunately Morris did kill the rat), she picked up the rug the rat was lying on, and carried it outside to the drive way. She then proceeded to sweep it (yes, with a broom) down the entire driveway into the middle of the street. (Keep in mind this was very early in the morning, before the sun came out, and even before I went to work.) It boggles the mind, why she didn't just carry it all the way to the middle of the street? Can you imagine what the sight of a little old woman sweeping a rat down the driveway, into the street, looked like? My only hope is the neighbors weren't watchin

As I sit here this afternoon trying to recover from my morning bike ride, typically the most difficult of the week, I thought I'd better take this opportunity to update everyone on what is going on! I really thought I had a lot more to say, but the longer I pondered exactly what to write, I found there was less and less to write about. So quickly I'll just update everyone on how Edie is doing. Fortunately Edie has been feeling much better as of late, albeit that's compared to how she has felt previously. She still has some problems relating to the chemo, and the dialysis, but overall, she is in much better spirits, and that is encouraging. Currently Edie is in the middle of her second course of treatment, with another potential 6 to go after this one is completed next week. That will end just in time for our planned trip to New Zealand this coming March. We're also hopeful the dialysis will only be temporary, as the Velcade and Doxil do their stuff, controlling the m

Well this doesn't exactly meet the criteria of particular relevance, nor is it even close to being on topic, but I thought it worth the time to relay to everyone. The 5th sequel in the highly acclaimed (at least in my opinion) Highlander movie series is airing this Saturday, September 15th, on the SciFi channel, at 9PM eastern time. Briefly, if you're not familiar with the Highlander story, Highlander is an immortal within a race of immortals, vying to be the last living immortal. As the story line goes, there can be only one. An immortal only dies when his/her head is cut off, and every time an immortal kills another immortal, all the strength and knowledge of the fallen immortal passes to the victor in a ritual known as the Quickening. The saga started in 1986, with Christopher Lambert as the original Highlander Conner MacLeod, followed by 3 sequels, the last one released in 2000, and included a series , starring Adrian Paul as Duncan MacLeod, lasting 6 seasons ending in

Even though I left myself an out for not completely discontinuing my blog I may even post something occasionally, if I consider it particularly relevant, or in the event it is too cold, or raining outside........... the outpouring of support to maintain my blog has been greater than I expected. Now I know at least 7 people read my blog, and actually find it informative and helpful, so I may have to reconsider that decision. So even though it isn't very cold or raining outside, I've decided to give you 7 supporters at least one last fix of my ramblings. Had I not decided to stop blogging, today I would be writing about how I am sitting here in front of the TV, trying to recover from this mornings bike ride. Today was the 7th day, in the last 9, that I've ridden my bike, having put on a total of 363 miles so far this month. I can't remember the last time I've ridden that many miles in such a short period of time. And on top of that, todays ride was 74 miles, about

When I awoke the other morning I was all set to write about how my iron and folate levels were low. But then I thought, why do I continue wasting devoting so much time to maintaining this blog? Not that many people read it, and besides, who wants to hear about the problems of others, even if some of them may be friends? I know I hardly ever read any blogs anymore, even of the people who I have links to on this site. I'm even starting to get tired of hearing about all my own problems. There are too many other things I could be doing. I should be enjoying what ever time I have left, instead of dwelling on the negative all the time. I know when I started this blog, I was on a mission to inform everyone of the problems with the US health care system, and how to ensure they got the most from their health care provider. But that soon fell by the wayside, as it became all too apparent the US public, with a few exceptions, were happy with the status quo, and thinking the US had the

I don't know if I can attribute an absolute monocyte count of 9 thou/cumm (3 times higher than mine has ever been, and about 10 times normal), to riding my bike in the extreme heat Sunday and Monday , but something sure caused that spike. For reference, monocytes protect against blood-borne pathogens , moving quickly to sites of infection in the tissues. I sure don't feel any different, and the way I was climbing on the bike the last two days, I can't imagine anything being wrong. Of course I have been under a lot of stress the past two weeks, so maybe that has had an effect. Fortunately all my other counts were stable, not necessarily normal, but at least stable, and Edie's creatinine only climbed slightly which is some what of a relief. Her platelets have continued to fall however, but that is to be expected from the Velcade as well as the plasmapheresis. Still we'll have a lot to discuss with Edie's regular oncologist (thank goodness she's back from va

I used to think heat shock therapy referred to a treatment for cancer that involved heating the body to some extreme temperature, 42 o C (107 o F) as suggested in this report . But the more I read other reports, I'm not so sure that it's as simple as that. In any event, if my original belief is correct, then I'm sure I just received a heavy dose of treatment this weekend. It was so freakin' hot, you almost can't imagine. On Sunday I did a really stupid thing, by riding into the hills of Whittier, where I'm sure temperatures exceeded 100 o F, and even after drinking almost a half gallon of water during the ride, I still managed to drop 6 pounds. I did manage to replenish the fluids I lost, and today (Labor Day), I thought I'd be a little smarter, and ride down to Newport Beach with the local bike club , but when you throw in a 2 mile climb, averaging about 5%, even the beach offered no escape from the heat. I'll see tomorrow, when I go for my monthly